1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to machines for processing documents and, more particularly, to document processing systems that include video cameras.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years more and more corporations and institutions have commenced processing documents using a high speed document transport. Such document transports are used, for example, by banks in check processing operations to process checks, in remittance operations to process checks and/or coupons, and in credit card operations to process merchant drafts. In addition, insurance companies, retailers, and public utilities use these machines to process payments, premiums, and bills.
A typical document transport has the capability of reading the machine readable data encoded on the documents being processed, recording this data, and sorting the documents in a predetermined manner according to the data. The machine readable data is digitized and recognized by the transport and stored in either a digital memory or on magnetic tape.
Recently, document transports have been constructed that incorporate a visual display for presenting a picture of the machine readable data read from the documents. These displays are typically point plotting, cathode ray tubes that read out the digitized data stored in the memory of the transport. These point plotting systems are used, for example, when the document transport cannot recognize the machine readable data on a document. Typically the digital field read from the document is displayed to the operator and the scanned documents physically delivered to the terminals so that a visual inspection of the unrecognizable data can be made. The operator then manually enters the correct data through a separate key-entry module.
One problem with these prior visual display document processing machines has been the limitation of the amount of information that can be stored in the digital memory. Typically these machines can process over 500 documents per minute and at these speeds only a few lines, called scan lines, are read from each document. A typical digital memory in such a machine does not have sufficient storage capacity to contain the entire image of each document.
A second limitation has been the requirement to physically handle and deliver to terminals each document in order to enter non-machine readable data as well as rejected characters on the scan line.
Another related problem has been the continuing lack of sensitivity and the long exposure times required by a conventional vidicon camera. Typically, a vidicon camera has an exposure time of about 1/30th of a second per line and long image retention. If such cameras are used in document processing systems to capture the images of the documents, the speed of the transport must be reduced in order to accommodate the physical limitations of the camera.
The present invention has application in any document processing operation where it is desirable to capture and display the images of the documents being processed. It has been most recently adapted for remittance processing in commercial banks and is described in the specification in that context. It should be understood, however, that this description is merely one particular application of the invention and is not intended in any way to limit the scope of the invention.
The remittance processing services provided by commercial banks to their clients include the processing and deposit of payments made to their clients by customers for goods and services. The bank processes these payments and deposits the money into the client's account as of the date of receipt. The client's cash flow is increased because the funds are available from the date of receipt at the bank. This service is called "LOCK-BOX" because the payments are sent directly to a post office box controlled by the bank.
The remittance accounts serviced by the bank generally fall into two categories. In one category are the high volume, retail accounts involving machine readable remittance documents and comparatively small amounts of money. These accounts include payments made to oil companies, public utilities, and in bank credit card transactions. The other category is the low volume, wholesale accounts involving large payments and remittance documents that are not usually machine readable. In this category the remittance documents are commonly bills of lading, invoices, and shipping documents.
FIG. 2 illustrates a typical check 104 drawn by a remitter and sent to the bank's lock box in payment of a previously received statement. It should be noted that along the lower margin of the check is a horizontal line 106 of MICR data. MICR is the acronym for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition data. The data in the MICR line indicates, inter alia, the account number of the remitter. The amount of the check is subsequently encoded by the bank in MICR in the space 108 below the remitter's signature line.
FIG. 3 depicts the general format of a remittance document 110 that accompanies the checks to the bank's lock box. These documents can take almost any form and are familiar to anyone who pays for goods and services by mail. In the upper left hand corner of the document of FIG. 3 is the name of the company and below that is the account number of the remitter. The remitter's address is centrally located on the document. Along the lower horizontal margin of the document is a machine readable line 112 of OCR data. OCR is the acronym for Optical Character Recognition data. This line of data includes the account number of the remitter 114 and the amount due.
In the manual mode of remittance processing the bank employee first opens the envelope mailed from the remitter and received in the bank's lock box. In this envelope is a check such as illustrated in FIG. 2 and a remittance document such as FIG. 3. Although procedures vary, the employee usually first scans the check to verify that the check is negotiable and that the check is made out to the proper payee. The employees of the bank next separate the checks and remittance documents into piles depending on the amount paid. These piles include the checks and remittance documents making full payment, minimum payment, partial payment, and other miscellaneous categories.
When the full payment pile reaches sufficient size, the remittance documents are run through a document transporter that reads the OCR line on each document. The transporter prints out a listing of each account number and full pay amount as well as the sum of the entire batch.
The checks in the full pay pile are next manually encoded with the amount of the check on proof machines. The operator of the proof machine reads the amount of each check, enters it on the keyboard of the proof machine, and inserts the check into the machine. The proof machine automatically prints the amount of the check in MICR below the signature line of the check. In FIG. 2 the amount is encoded at location 108. While the checks in the pile are being encoded, the proof machine prints out a listing of the data encoded on the checks.
Next the totals obtained from the OCR transporter and the proof machine are compared. If the totals agree, the checks and remittance documents are passed into another department of the bank. If the totals do not agree, the bank employee must compare the two listings line by line in order to find the discrepancy.
The documents and checks in the minimum pay pile are processed and reconciled in essentially the same manner. However, the OCR scanner in the transporter reads the minimum pay amount 118 on the remittance documents and not the full pay amount 116, FIG. 3. The checks are processed in exactly the same manner as described above.
For the transactions making a partial payment, the remittance document initially does not contain the amount of the payment in machine readable form. In some cases, the bank employee can write the amount of the payment on the face of the remittance document in a machine readable format. The numbers must be carefully written in a specific style and often an OCR scanner misreads them. In other situations, the account number on the remittance document is read by the OCR scanner and the bank employee inserts the amount of the check into a computer terminal. A computer is used to correlate and print out the payments and account numbers.
When the documents having no machine readable data are processed, the bank employee manually inserts the account numbers and payments listed on the documents into a computer terminal. The computer prints out a listing of all the entries and the total of the payments. The checks are processed as described above. The total of the payments listed on the documents is then compared with the listing of the checks obtained from the proof encoder.
From the foregoing description it should be appreciated that one of the main problems in remittance processing is the fact that the entire procedure is labor intensive. Most of the above steps must be manually performed by the employees of the bank. For example, the initial sorting is manually done. Reconciliation of the remittance document total with the check total is done line by line through both listings. Also, each check is first scanned by an employee to determine if it is negotiable and then later to encode the amount in MICR.
It should also be noted that the documents are transferred from station to station throughout the bank's operations center and locating documents during this processing procedure is often difficult. Further, because the documents go from station to station, there is always the possibility that some of the documents may be lost or misplaced.
From a management viewpoint there is never a simple, easy quantitative capture of information. The employees of the bank are required to maintain extensive logs so that the management of the bank can determine what has occurred. There is also a general lack of data available on a management level concerning the amount and flow of work on a day-to-day basis. Thus, it is very hard for the management of a bank to control the cost of its remittance processing.
Additionally, each bank extends the line of credit to its clients based on the funds received in the lock box as of the date of receipt. If the bank cannot completely process all of the documents received in one day, then it must hold over the work. These undeposited, held-over checks represent a significant loss to the bank's operation.